Europe facing major challenges as Digital Transformation becomes number one skills issue

Organisations across Europe are facing a major skills challenge caused by Digital Transformation, with many struggling to keep pace with learning and development (L&D) needs, according to research from Skillsoft. Carried out in the UK, France and Germany, the research found that reskilling in the face of changing and increasingly digital working environments is the biggest single issue for L&D professionals across all three countries (42% of respondents on average).

However, only 22% of respondents from across the three countries said their organisations are fully prepared to provide the new skills required by Digital Transformation. The UK sits below this average, with just 14% of organisations saying they have fully prepared employees with new skills, with France only slightly higher than the average, reporting 33% of organisations are fully prepared. France had the most respondents say they are doing nothing to build Digital Transformation skills (20%), compared to Germany at 3% and the UK at 1%. In each country, most respondents believe their organisations need to do more to keep pace with Digital Transformation.

Despite the overwhelming response that organisations are not preparing employees for Digital Transformation, only half of the organisations in each country have increased investment in skills to keep pace with Digital Transformation (UK – 56%, France – 54%, Germany – 56%).

“It’s clear that across these three major territories, Digital Transformation is severely testing the planning, implementation and spending strategies for L&D professionals. Despite a clear trend of increasing and targeted investment, the industry faces a challenge to keep pace with the changes that Digital Transformation is bringing,” said Steve Wainwright, Managing Director EMEA at Skillsoft. “It’s vital, therefore, that we also look to technology to help build successful L&D strategies so we can all reap the benefits of this exciting era of disruptive change in the way we learn, widen our skillsets and give employees the greatest opportunity to develop,” said Wainwright.